I have a question for you

If you knew that someone you loved was going to die tomorrow- you knew it with 100% certainty and that it would be quiet and painless- what would you do today?

Would you treat them differently?

Would you do something different?

Would you do something special?

Why?

Why would it take their death for you to do that?

tai chi

So, for the last month or so I have been plagued by a lot of leg muscle pain, and my re-occuring repeatitive motion injuries in my right arm and shoulder have really flared up. It was getting to the point I was popping Aleave in the morning and afternoon just to make it through the day. I went to a shopping center with my wife and some friends of ours, and pulled two leg muscles just walking around!

I decided that was no longer tolerable.

Now, I've done a lot of exercise programs in my time. And, I have found one thing- I really don't like it. I've biked for 100's of miles (not all at once, mind you). Biking didn't help my arm pain at all. And, I didn't want to invest in a weight set (being a freelance means I don't have money at all). I didn't want to join a gym, it seems such a pointless waste of money to me. Running was a painful experience from beginning to end.

And, with the leg pain even walking was an ordeal. I tried the treadmill and leg press at work. That was more pain that I wanted to deal with while being at work. But, things had to change.

And, last Friday, as I was helping my wife pack for her trip, a thought occurred to me, "What's that lame slow-motion crap you always see old people doing in commercials? Tie flee? I Chee?"

Then my wife says outloud, "Tai Chi. And, it's not just for old people."

I swear she is telepathic. She says I mumble when I think. Whatever. Back to the point- I don't think anything else of it until the next morning when I'm dropping her off at the airport. And, then I think, "Maybe I should look into this Tai Chi thing. It's supposed to be good for your muscles and stuff. Pick up a cheap work out video for it."

My wife says, "You should." and kisses me on the cheek as she leaves.

Now, I've got nothing to do so this Saturday, well, I should rephrase that. I am going to blow off all the stuff I had to do that Saturday since I was the only one home. And, I felt like following up on this Tai Chi thing.

I wandered around town, stopping off at just about every dvd carrying retail store I could think of when I ended up at Fry's. Of course the electronic warehouse had what I was looking for, Elements: Tai Chi for Beginners. And, I thought, "well, that's me." And it was the right price, $8. I can invest $8 to see if I'll like something.

So, I get it home, and throw it in the tv (my tv has a built in dvd player). I go through the beginners work out- a warm up, practicing all the forms, and then putting them altogether in one "seemless" flow. It hurt a little bit to go through, but nothing like running, biking, weight training, or even walking hurt. I never had to stop due to pain or inability to move a joint.

Now, here's the part you're not going to believe since it sounds like an infomercial: by the end of the routine my leg pains were gone, the muscles that were still stressed from being sprained weren't hurting anymore.

It sounds like a stupid miracle cure but it's true. My legs weren't in pain anymore. Now, my arm and shoulder were still hurting. And, on the second day they hurt more. But, on the third day it was less, and finally on the 4th day they don't hurt at all. I have a returned full range of motion for my right arm and both my legs.

so, I'm gonna stick with it for now and see how it goes. I've found a longer dvd, it has a 20, 40, and 60 minute process.

But the $8 one that I bought already is worth it.

I forgot

I've been beta testing more games, which has been a lot of fun. The first one is Champions Online, and the second is Webwars.

Champions is a superhero MMORPG put out by the same people who did City of Heroes/Villains. I can't say much, because there is still an NDA on it, but I will say they took to heart all of the requests and criticism from the players in the City games.

Expect good things.

The second game, Webwars, is put out by a local company here in Austin. This too is under an NDA but it's a lot like Neo-pets but less lame. If you're interested in playing, head over to their site, www.webwars.com to sign up.

steam punk

So, after 6 months of writing a review every week I've finally gotten to the point where it doesn't suck up all of my writing time anymore.

Which is nice.

That means I can get back to all the other things I need to be writing. Like this blog. Maybe get back to more than once a month writing. That'd be cool. And, get started on my new novel. That'd be even better. Speaking of the new novel, I've stumbled across a burgeoning Punk genre called Steampunk. And, I say stumbled upon because I already knew it existed and had seen a few anime's in that style already. But, as I started researching it more I found the sub-genre was an off shoot of Cyberpunk and started back in the late 80s.

Which is weird, since that's when I was readng more than I was breathing air. I mean, I thought I would have read at least some of it then.

Anyway.

As I was saying- new novel. I've decided to write in the punk style.

Which, in case you didn't know, is a rejection of the Star Trekian philosophy that science is our savior. No, punk says that science and industry is our ruination, and the only choice we have is to rebel against that science and industry. usually the worlds are dystopian nightmares, and in Steampunk it's all covered over in a polite veneer of Victorian society.

Which really lends itself to that idea of science and industry being a destroyer as it was during this time child labor came under scrutiny along with cruelty to people and animals. It was the golden time of the industrial revolution.

So, yeah. The next novel, which the outlines began for it last week, will be steampunkish. I have started to outline several short stories as well, to get my feet wet in the genre, so to speak.